Toyota Camry Hybrid overtakes Prius in local sales

The Toyota Camry Hybrid has overtaken the Toyota Prius in local sales, as Toyota’s in-house battle of the hybrids ticks over 50,000 units.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has sold its 50,000th hybrid car in Australia – split between 42,000 Toyotas and 8500 Lexus models – with the Toyota Camry Hybrid now surpassing the original hybrid poster car, the Toyota Prius.

While sales of the Camry Hybrid have reached 20,087 in the three years since the first-generation Australian-built sedan went on sale in early 2010, sales of the Prius – the car Toyota claims as the world’s best-selling hybrid – have only hit 18,168 since its Australian introduction in 2001.

Now it its third generation, the Toyota Prius has been differentiated over recent years with the launch of the Prius C city car and Prius V people mover, with total sales of 2500 and 1191 units respectively.

Toyota Australia’s executive director of sales and marketing Matthew Callachor said Australian motorists now regard hybrid cars as a mainstream choice.

“Local customers bought more than 10,000 Toyota hybrids in a year for the first time [in 2012] – or almost five per cent of the company’s total sales.”